Wednesday, August 03, 2005

John Roberts -- Right to Privacy, Part 3

In 1981 John Roberts worked at the U.S. Department of Justice. Ronald Reagan had recently been elected President and taken office. Some of Roberts 20 year old memos have been released to the public by the National Archives.

In one memo he wrote to Reagan's Attorney General, William French Smith, Roberts cites approvingly of a comment by former Solicitor General Erwin Griswold regarding "so-called 'right to privacy'," found by the Court in "Roe v. Wade" in 1973, and "Griswold v. Connecticut" in 1965. (No relation to Erwin Griswold).

Roberts wrote that Erwin Griswold, was "arguing as we have that such an amorphous right is not to be found in the Constitution."

Of course, Roberts was writing for the administration at the time, not necessarily for himself. Still, it should make any person curious at so what John Roberts' views are regarding the "right to privacy", and whether it is the Constitution or not.

The documents also suggest that Roberts was the author of draft of an article criticizing the concept of a Constitutional right to privacy, which said "the broad range of rights which are now alleged to be 'fundamental' by litigants" bear "only the most tenuous connection to the Constitution.''

These memos and articles are more than 20 years old, and Roberts was writing as employee. Still, at the very least, they are grounds for further questioning.